


A Series of Entanglements

by Tinywriterfairy



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shadowhunter Chronicles Fusion, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Breaking Up & Making Up, Exes, M/M, Polyamory Negotiations, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:49:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28288725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinywriterfairy/pseuds/Tinywriterfairy
Summary: Renjun was not expecting to meet his ex when he moved to New York. He most definitely wasn't expecting to meet his other ex. He never imagined they might know each other, too.Things get complicated when you live for centuries.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 93
Collections: the misfits' holiday exchange





	A Series of Entanglements

**Author's Note:**

  * For [halfmoonjisung](https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfmoonjisung/gifts).



> HELLO I hope you like this!! I absolutely loved your first prompt and ran with it and got this monster. The tag says Shadowhunter Chronicles because it was what I could find, but that feels a little ambiguous to me, so to be clear--this is based on the first two trilogies, but diverging from City of Heavenly Fire canon a little in that the 'Cold Peace' was a lot less ... uh ... stringent. It shouldn't come up in the fic too much, but that's basically my attempt to ignore the later books for the sake of this fic! 
> 
> For everyone else: canon knowledge isn't required to understand this fic, but canon events are referenced so if you've read the books you'll probably have an easier time. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these ridiculous boys.

Renjun arrives just before the rain. Magnus’ letter had mentioned an apartment that could work well for a High Warlock in Queens (something about traffic placement) until or unless he decided to move elsewhere, but the address hadn’t meant anything to him. Renjun steps under an awning to see if the storm clouds that followed him here will open up. Despite the rain, the street remains crowded. It looks like he’s close to the address—if Magnus were around to let him Portal to his apartment, this wouldn’t be an issue, but then if Magnus were around he probably wouldn’t have gotten the offer in the first place. It’s not like they really need another High Warlock in Queens when Magnus is in town. He’s de facto held the entire city for almost a century, no matter what he says about only being High Warlock of Brooklyn.

Renjun pauses at the corner with a crush of people waiting for the light to turn. A light drizzle falls, so he leaves off his umbrella. He shakes it off. It doesn’t really matter why Magnus asked him to come. He’s here now and he has a job to do.

The building waits at the next corner past the light. Renjun gets by the lobby and anyone in it easily enough. Glamour really comes in handy sometimes. No one notices him in the elevator or the hallway, either. The apartment seems nondescript enough from the outside, a plain door just like the rest, at the far end from the elevator (thank you, Magnus). Number 666. Funny.

Inside is, well. Renjun hadn’t expected the place to already be furnished. It’s almost to his taste—he’s not a fan of the very deep cushions it looks like Magnus set on all the chairs in the living area at the end of a short hall—but he likes the colors. The walls and furniture almost match, lighter and darker shades of blue for the sparks his magic gives off. He locks the door behind him. He’s not in the mood to curse any idiots who might try stealing from him today. The door set into the front hall turns out to be Magnus’ idea of an office space which, again, suits him alright for now. There’s a desk and several bookshelves around a window, at least, which will do.

The living area leads into an open kitchen space, with a couple of doors that turn out to hide bedrooms. Renjun thanks his lucky stars the bedrooms are barely furnished; he can do with a minimal bed until he finds something better, and he can definitely do without anyone else’s idea of a good bed. The other will do as a guest room. He leaves the door to his room open as he pokes around the kitchen. A note waits stuck to the refrigerator. Renjun pulls it off and sets the sparkling magnet aside.

_Renjun!_

_Thank you for agreeing to do this on such short notice. I hope you like the apartment. I got it started for you as a thank-you and also because people are going to start knocking down your door any minute. Before you Project to yell at me, remember that New York is a fast-moving place and I did set things up for you! Thanks again._

_Magnus_

Renjun groans. He lets the note dissolve into blue sparks to let Magnus know he’s received it. Would it have killed Magnus to warn him of that a little sooner? At least the furnishings will come in handy. He troops back into the office near the front door—he’d thought that was odd, but if Magnus is implying what he thinks Magnus is implying, there ought to be space for him to set up a Projection array, and it will save him having people troop too far into his space. A snap, and his clothes and some personal effects vanish to pile on the bed Magnus left for him. Another snap, and his books and tools arrange themselves on the bookshelves. He’ll have to fix the order later, but it’s better than personally unpacking everything. Renjun empties the rest of his bag into the desk drawers himself. By the time he finishes, the rain outside his windows has died down with the sun. Renjun closes the last door. Something feels undone—what is he forgetting?

A knock sounds on his front door—three sharp taps whose familiarity send a chill down his spine. Where has he heard that before? Magnus has said his work would start quickly. Renjun should probably be glad he is mostly unpacked. He feels, reaching for the knob, the the sort of inexplicable rush that has heralded the most momentous encounters in his life. Renjun opens the door.

Donghyuck drops his hand slowly. The sensation roars past Renjun’s ears and fades, slowly, as he stares back. Donghyuck looks good—dark hair now silvery, eyes still dark as night, skin carrying traces of the sun he no longer sees—but tentative. That’s a new look. He doesn’t seem surprised to see Renjun.

“Hi,” Donghyuck says after a breath he doesn’t need. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Renjun isn’t sure how to make words come out of his mouth. His lips prickle as though his skin can actually remember Donghyuck’s touch. But that’s stupid. It’s been too long for him to still react this way.

“Only me trying to decide what to do with the furniture Magnus left me.” He cocks his head, trying to pretend he isn’t still reacting. And that Donghyuck can’t hear his heartbeat. “You don’t look surprised to see me, so I’m guessing you lead the clan here.” Magnus hadn’t told him about any welcoming parties but he must have told at least a few people Renjun would be coming—and if his Downworlder-Shadowhunter alliance works the way he claims, it would make sense for them all to know. “Did Magnus tell you I’d be coming?”

Donghyuck nods. “He wasn’t trumpeting it from the rooftops or anything, but he told the city’s bigwigs that you’d be stepping in and when he thought you’d arrive.” He bites his lip with deceptively human teeth. Renjun looks away. “I thought it would be better to get everything out in the open as soon as possible.”

It’s strange to hear Donghyuck speak English, though Renjun knows he must have known it even when they met. He nods. “You’re probably right.” He takes a steadying breath. “Come on in, then.”

Donghyuck blinks. “You’re inviting me in?”

Renjun raises an eyebrow. “Are vampires blocked from private residences, too, now?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

Renjun hums. “Isn’t this what you came for, though? I’m not rude enough to make you stand in the hall while we talk.” Never mind that all the spells on his apartment, old or new, won’t keep someone from overhearing them in the hall. Never mind the way his chest squeezes at the thought of Donghyuck in his space again. He steps aside to give Donghyuck room to walk.

Donghyuck eyes him a little more before stepping inside. He’s careful not to brush Renjun as he passes, though he wouldn’t give off heat anyway. Renjun closes the door and turns to show Donghyuck the space.

“If you’re here for Renjun,” he says finally, “there’s a couch in the living room.” He gestures at the office. “If you’re here for the High Warlock, the office is through here. Keep in mind none of the furniture was my idea.”

Donghyuck stares at him for a long while. Renjun tries not to give anything away. A phantom ache settles in the side of his neck from the one time Donghyuck bit him. That … hadn’t ended well, but the beginning had felt so good. A rather apt metaphor for their entire relationship, now that he thinks about it.

“High Warlock,” Donghyuck says finally, heading into the office. Renjun swallows back his feelings and follows.

“I see what you mean about the furniture.”

“I’ve only been here for two hours, I haven’t had time to do anything with it yet.” He lets the door swing almost closed.

Donghyuck laughs softly, but more strained than Renjun remembers.

Renjun perches on the edge of his desk. He’ll have to remember not to decorate it too heavily so he can keep doing it later. “So, what does New York City’s vampire clan need to speak with me about?”

Donghyuck shrugs. “That depends on you, really. We’re not very high maintenance as a rule, but especially lately it’s better for our factions to be on good terms.”

“That’s true.” Renjun remembers the second Accords … and what came before. “The peace is still tentative, no matter what the Clave says. I’m certainly not in the mood for a third war.”

Donghyuck nods. “Me neither. I’d have been glad to stop after the first one. No matter what good it did us,” he wrinkles his nose, “that Alliance rune was weird.”

“You were at Alicante too?” Renjun straighten. “I didn’t see you.” He hadn’t seen many people, to be fair.

Donghyuck nods. “I brought a group from the clan just before the battle. We stayed until our injured were healed and then left.” He hesitates. “What about you?”

“Oh, I came in in a rush and left in a rush.” Renjun waves both hands. He doesn’t really want to remember the day itself. “Went back to the place I was sharing with Jeno and slept for ages. I didn’t really leave until …”

“The demons and Valentine’s son?”

Renjun nods.

“That was worse,” Donghyuck agrees. “Though I’m glad someone was able to talk the Clave out of that nonsense with the fey.”

“Really?” Renjun leans back on his palms. He doesn’t disagree, but … “I would have thought you’d have been angrier at them.”

“Oh, I hate the Seelie Queen for screwing our whole world over, but that doesn’t mean we should let shadowhunters walk all over an entire faction.” Donghyuck’s voice darkens in the second half.

“I agree.” Renjun phrases his options carefully before speaking any of them. “What was it like for you, here? You were closer to it all, right?”

Donghyuck nods. With a few more questions, he tells a story of blood and fire and angels. When he finishes, he doesn’t seem to have anything else planned. Renjun bites the inside of his lip. He offered the chance to talk about their personal lives already—it’s probably good that Donghyuck said no, because Renjun doesn’t think he should have that conversation while he’s still viscerally remembering the past—but what else is there to talk about?

Donghyuck glances out the window. “Well,” he says slowly. “I’ve taken up too much of your time already. I should go so you can finish unpacking.”

“You—” It hurts, to hear Donghyuck so polite with him.

Donghyuck gives a crooked grin. This one Renjun recognizes. “It’s also a ways back and I have to stop somewhere before dawn.”

Renjun just nods, and walks him back to the door. He hands over a copy of his card. “Your clan can call on me if you need help, but I’m not giving discounts just because we know each other.”

Donghyuck waves, not looking at him as he takes the card. “Thanks, Renjun,” he says softly. It still hits like a blow, the first time Donghyuck has said his name since—Renjun cuts that thought off with a nod.

Donghyuck slips out the door. Renjun lets himself stand in front of it, hand creeping up to the side of his neck, for longer than he wants to admit before he turns back to finish fixing the books in his office.

***

_Marseilles, 1835_

The night Renjun met the vampire, he hadn’t expected to see any for quite some time, especially not in a worn inn at the edge of Marseilles. He might not even have noticed if the strange man in the dark corner of the bar hadn’t forgotten to catch a drip of blood at the corner of his mouth when he pulled back from his companion’s neck. He didn’t even have red wine to play cover up with. Renjun sipped his drink. The man who’d been fed from stumbled away from the table after a few moments, looking for all the world like any other drunk, and almost knocked over the waiter bringing Renjun’s food.

Renjun pursed his lips. The vampire winced, gaze meeting Renjun’s across the room as the waiter started to lay out his meal. Renjun pretended to pay attention to the waiter, tipped him, and looked back to find the vampire still watching. Perhaps it was unwise, here in France with Saint Cloud watching everyone, but Renjun was so incredibly bored. He winked, letting his glamour drop just long enough to reveal his own cat eyes. The vampire raised both eyebrows. Renjun looked back to his food in a way he’d been told seemed demure. The vampire wandered over before Renjun could even finish his appetizer.

“What’s a warlock doing around here?” he asked, just loud enough to reach Renjun’s ears, dropping into the seat across the table. “I thought most of you had cleared out of the area for fear of having to deal with Marcel.”

 _That_ set off a bell. “Saint Cloud only rules Paris.” Renjun cut into the meat. “Or has something changed since I left it?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” The vampire leaned forward. “But anyone who’s not a vampire or indebted to Marcel knows it’s better to be as far away as possible, so my question stands.”

His French carried an accent Renjun could _almost_ place. Renjun made a show of eating his meal placidly. He was definitely watching Renjun’s mouth. Interesting. “I don’t think I should divulge such information to a total stranger. I don’t even know your name, not to mention you’re apparently familiar enough with Saint Cloud to use his first name.”

“In Paris they’ve been calling me Haechan, but I prefer Donghyuck.” Donghyuck laughed. “And I’m not that familiar with him. It irritates him that I use it, but he can’t risk killing me. So?”

“So?” Haechan sounded vaguely familiar, but he didn’t think he’d heard ‘Donghyuck’ before.

Donghyuck set his chin on one hand. “You know who I am, we’re not strangers. Won’t you answer my question?”

He _had_ invited this on himself. Renjun echoed Donghyuck’s shrug. “I don’t like the games Saint Cloud has been playing since he rose to power. I stopped in town for a few days to help a friend, but I’m heading out of the country.”

“Oh?”

Renjun handed Donghyuck a handkerchief. Donghyuck raised an eyebrow. Renjun pointed to his mouth. “You missed a spot when you were feeding earlier.”

Donghyuck laughed loud enough to draw the whole room’s attention. “Thank you,” he managed eventually. “You’re observant, aren’t you? Is that why you revealed yourself, because you knew I was …” he waved, using the cloth to clean his face.

Renjun nodded. He introduced himself properly when asked, but no matter how they bantered he couldn’t quite get an answer about why Donghyuck was there. He finally admitted his travel plans as Donghyuck walked him to his room.

Donghyuck cocked his head, biting his lip with a tooth that could so easily turn into a fang. “Are you looking for company?”

“Hm?” Renjun forced his gaze away from Donghyuck’s mouth.

“I’ve outstayed my welcome in Paris, which is just as well because it’s become very boring.” Donghyuck looked him up and down. “I don’t think you’ll be boring.”

“Why, thank you, I do try to entertain my audience.”

Donghyuck snorted. “So?”

Renjun leaned against his door frame. Risk or not, Donghyuck _had_ been very interesting. And he was so pretty. “The ship leaves in two days, just before dawn.” He smirked. “Don’t burn yourself.”

The look Donghyuck gave Renjun almost burned _him_. “Oh, don’t worry about me. I have no intention of missing out.”

Renjun carried that look with him into dreams.

***

Jaemin rereads the address on the little card as he approaches the building. He memorized it the first time Mark showed it to him, the morning the new High Warlock had made stacks of them appear in every major Downworld gathering place in the borough, but something about the writing on them seems familiar. Even most Downworlders these days use printed materials rather than handwriting, but these cards—crisp, modern squares like any other business card—carry looping handwriting that tugs at something in his brain. There’s no name, either.

Jaemin pushes it out of his mind as he slips through the door behind a mundane woman. He’d set his glamour to hide him from mundanes completely, which saves a lot of trouble but means he doesn’t want to bother opening doors. He follows her into the elevator and hits the right button when she isn’t looking.

His floor comes first. Jaemin dashes out of the elevator as the woman looks for someone getting on. The card had said 666, which turns out to be all the way at the end of the hall. He tucks the card away and knocks.

“Open hours don’t start until the top of the hour.” The voice that calls out sounds familiar, but too muffled for Jaemin to place.

The door opens and Jaemin almost chokes. Renjun stops mid-word, stares, blinks hard, stares, then gapes. “Jaemin?”

“Hello.” At least now he knows why the handwriting seemed familiar. “You must be the new High Warlock.”

“I—yeah. You live in New York?”

Jaemin nods. For all the time he’s spent in the human world, he’s never felt time slip away from him the way they sometimes talk about it doing in Faerieland. Now he understands what they mean. It’s almost like Renjun moves in slow motion … or like his own thoughts move too slowly. “These last few years, yes. I have not needed to associate much with politics or Faerieland.”

“I see,” Renjun says faintly. His cheeks are still like strawberries when he blushes, spreading high and low on his face. Jaemin used to have the right to kiss those lovely spots. He bites the inside of his cheek instead. “Uh. You came for something specific, right? You didn’t know it was me, but you wanted something.”

“Yes. I’m looking for a potion.” Jaemin describes what’s been happening with his plants.

Renjun nods. His mouth is slightly open while he contemplates. Jaemin misses when he could just kiss that look off his face. Maybe, if he asks—but no. Renjun doesn’t like mixing business and play, and Jaemin was the one who ruined things. He should at least wait to see what Renjun thinks of his potion.

“Right, well.” Renjun gathers himself. “Come in, then. I can get started a little early, since you’re already here.”

Jaemin nods and follows Renjun inside. The walls remind him of Renjun’s magic, when he used to see it all the time, as does what he spots of the room down the hall before Renjun turns to an open door.

“Before you ask, Magnus furnished the place, I’m still deciding what I want to keep.” Renjun closes the front door.

“It’s pleasant.” Not _exactly_ Renjun, or at least not the Renjun Jaemin remembers, but clearly Magnus has kept in touch with him when Jaemin couldn’t. Maybe something’s changed.

Renjun half smiles. “That’s one way to put it. So.” He leads Jaemin through that open door into an office that definitely feels like the Renjun Jaemin remembers. He still arranges his books the same way—chronologically within sections that Jaemin still doesn’t quite understand but can follow. “You wanted a preservative for herbs, right?”

“Yes.” Jaemin leans against the wall. He waits until Renjun has gathered most of his supplies to speak. “It’s very good to see you.” Jaemin grins. “You look lovely.”

Renjun blushes again, rosebuds spreading across his whole face. It’s so cute. He starts a brew quickly. “So. This will need to steep a while. You’ll have to come back in a couple of days, once I’ve been able to finish it.” He clears his throat. “You said you’d been living here for a while?”

“Yes. I relocated here a few years before the wars. I had heard some stories, and some of my friends live here.” He tips his head to one side. “It’s been interesting.”

“That’s one word for this city, yeah.” Renjun moves closer. His heartbeat picks up slightly. Jaemin _thinks_ it’s mild, whatever Renjun’s feeling. “If you’re curious about the rest of the potion, you can wait here a couple of hours while it steeps, but it won’t be ready today.” It looks like he’s biting the inside of his lip.

The reminder warms him. “I would like that, thank you.”

Renjun leads them to the couch in his living area that reminds Jaemin of magic. Jaemin sits at one end after Renjun curls into the other. Perhaps he can get Renjun to let him be a tour guide, if nothing else.

***

_London, 1897_

Renjun almost walked face-first into the faerie outside the tea shop. The mundane customers filing past him didn’t notice except to be annoyed that they had to walk around something. Renjun stepped back as they got further away, bag swinging against his legs. “Excuse me.”

The faerie winked. He had to be gentry, mostly the same as a human on the street except for the blue hair, pointed ears, and eyes that seemed to shift color every time Renjun blinked. His outfit could pass for a mundane’s formal suit, but the texture looked all wrong, like bark, except where a sliver of silver flashed when he moved. “No trouble. Unless I can convince you to come for a walk with me, in which case I am concerned for the state of my feet.”

Renjun raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t step on your feet.”

“Did you not?” He looked down.

“No, and if I had, you probably wouldn’t want to go for a walk with me.” Londoners these days had the strangest sense of what should go on a person’s feet. Renjun missed being barefoot. He missed a lot of things. The faerie looked back up, and Renjun raised the other eyebrow.

“You might be correct,” he grinned while he talked, “but how will you know unless you come walk with me? It’s much too nice a day to walk alone.”

“And what does a member of the Seelie Court want with me?” Renjun pointed at his chest. “Don’t look so surprised. You should hide your armor better if you don’t want Downworlders to notice.”

“Ah.” He glanced down again. “That is a very good point, and I thank you for it.” He glanced up from under his lashes. “Would my savior like to tell me his name, and perhaps come on the walk to further correct me?”

“Do you really think that’s going to work?” The better question was why Renjun was even entertaining the flirtation. He usually shut people down a lot faster than this. After—

He used a hand over his brow to block the sun shifting from behind the clouds; if it covered his flinch at raw memory, so much the better. The faerie tilted his head to the side. The way his eyes shifted made them look even more mischievous. “I think if master warlock did not wish to keep speaking to me, he would have continued down the empty street before I got this far. Am I correct?”

Renjun tilted his head the other way. “Master faerie knight is not incorrect. Does master faerie knight ever communicate in anything other than elaborate questions?”

‘Master faerie knight’ shrugged. “Sometimes. We’re not all devilish tricksters, you know.”

He certainly looked the part. Renjun hitched his bag strap a little higher over his shoulder. He must have lost his mind somewhere in the tea shop, but—“If master faerie knight will give me a name to call him by and try to speak plainly, I will consider walking with him.”

This time, the faerie’s smile felt more genuine as it spread across his face. “Jaemin. And master warlock?”

Renjun couldn’t help a little heat spreading over the back of his neck in response to that smile. “Renjun.”

Maybe London wouldn’t be so bad after all.

***

Renjun stares at the texts coming in on his phone screen, waiting for them to prove themselves a hallucination. They remain firmly real.

Donghyuck: _So_ _… now that you’re a little more settled in_

Donghyuck: _and it sounds like you don_ _’t know that many people in the city_

Donghyuck: _I could show you around?_

It’s a good offer. Donghyuck has, from what Renjun can tell, been around this country longer than Jaemin or even Magnus; he’s definitely been in the city a while. And Renjun has no idea why Donghyuck is making it.

Renjun: _A tour for the tourist?_

Donghyuck: _Something like that. Only you_ _’re not going to be a tourist for long, are you?_

Renjun: _Not unless Magnus comes back and evicts me from the city, which he_ _’s far too lazy to do_.

As Donghyuck sends a series of laughing gifs, Renjun taps the phone in his palm. It can’t just be politics. Renjun already agreed to play nice with the vampires, and after the last incident that required Donghyuck to bring him one, they have each other’s phone numbers and Donghyuck has proof Renjun will keep his word. There’s no reason to keep him sweet.

There’s no reason for Donghyuck to be that calculating either, but who knows what he’s like these days. The man Renjun met in France didn’t give two shits about being in charge—and even if the man he left did, this feels different. Renjun checks his phone to find the laughs still coming. The joke wasn’t that funny—is Donghyuck nervous?

That’s an interesting possibility. Renjun holds the thought at arm’s length while he pads into the kitchen for some tea. He messages Donghyuck a few more quips and a picture of the kettle to give himself an excuse to take a moment. He pokes at the idea gently. If Donghyuck’s nervous … well. They haven’t talked yet. Renjun hasn’t talked with Jaemin either but—that was a whole different case. Jaemin doesn’t have reason to be angry. But Donghyuck doesn’t seem mad.

The kettle whistles. Renjun prepares the tea. A century and a half is a long time even for people with lives as long as theirs. Renjun isn’t mad either, not really. It’s just awkward. Maybe Donghyuck wants to bury the hatchet or whatever it is Americans say. Maybe he wants … more than that.

Renjun pauses with the kettle hanging over the sink. He puts it to the metal gently and just as gently closes the door on that idea. That way lies dragons. He blows on his tea before he sips. Renjun doesn’t want to think about the bigger dragon, but Donghyuck’s question doesn’t leave him much choice.

Jaemin’s motives are a little clearer than Donghyuck’s, if Renjun does say so himself. He just doesn’t want to deal with them yet. If he brings Donghyuck along, he won’t have to deal with his and Jaemin’s history. Renjun drums his fingers on the countertop. But Jaemin and Donghyuck have history too, don’t they?

His phone buzzes. _So? Jokes aside, what do you think?_

Fuck it. Whatever the history is, as long as it keeps them looking at each other and not at him for even a few minutes, he can handle it. And if they’re both going to keep trying to talk to him they can learn to deal with each other.

Renjun: _Sure. I_ _’m free Saturday evening, around 8?_

Then he texts Jaemin the same information. Jaemin responds with something that might look like a face but definitely isn’t an emoji Renjun recognizes. He doesn’t want to ask.

***

_Daegu, 1789_

Donghyuck slipped away from the party before they brought out any drunk humans. He didn’t need to be drunk to enjoy a party, and other drunks tended to make it much less fun. Daegu was pretty at night, anyway. He wandered out the back door onto the road that led to a little wooded space on the edge of town. The festive spirit seemed to have taken the up woodland creatures as well; Donghyuck could pick up the active noises of animals normally sleeping even if a human couldn’t. He even thought he caught a glimpse of a few faeries between some of the trees.

He stopped to rest under a large tree that would cover him if it rained. When he opened his eyes, a shining pair stared back. Donghyuck startled. “Hello?”

“Hello.” The stranger—who Donghyuck could actually see now that he was paying attention—cocked his head, sitting about a meter away. “You’re not from this area.”

“That depends on how you define ‘area.’” The stranger had to be gentry fey—the ears would have given it away, but the blue hair and eyes didn’t help. He seemed very curious about Donghyuck. He was beautiful. That should not have been enough to start Donghyuck thinking.

The faerie waved a hand at their surroundings. “This wood. Perhaps the city? But I meant the wood. What is a vampire doing this far out of town?”

Donghyuck shrugged. “I like nature. You’re right, I’m not from this city.” He wasn’t sure what made him keep talking, but the whole thing did make him curious in return. “I’m from Jeju, but I left to explore a while ago.”

The faerie blinked slowly. His eyes went from green to light orange. “Do you like it here?”

“In the wood?”

“In Daegu.”

Donghyuck shrugged again. “It’s alright. I don’t think I’ll stay long, though.” He cocked his head in a mirror of the faerie. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“Waiting.” The faerie watched him some more, as his eyes shifted red to brown to blue like his hair. “You weren’t having fun, where you were?”

Donghyuck shook his head.

The faerie grinned. “Would you like to have fun with me?”

“I don’t even know your name.”

“I don’t know yours, either,” he pointed out. “Do you want to tell me?”

“I’m Donghyuck.”

“Jaemin.” Jaemin held out a hand. “Come have fun with me, Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck reached for Jaemin’s hand before he even knew he’d decided.

***

Renjun shoves his hands between his knees to stop himself from fidgeting too much. The bench outside his apartment is fine, it’s not even too cold, but if he tries to rip out the stitches in his jeans one more time he’ll have to do something drastic. His phone buzzes, face up on the bench. Two texts, one from Jaemin and one from Donghyuck. _I_ _’m on my way_ and _Don_ _’t worry, I won’t be late._

He takes a deep breath before responding to both texts. There’s no reason to be nervous. It’s not like it really matters if Donghyuck and Jaemin get along. He can just see them separately, if he keep seeing either of them outside of work. Renjun’s fingers slow on the last text. ‘Seeing them’ is one of the phrases making him want to tear his hair out, because it’s accurate but also makes this sound like one of the stupid dramas Jeno likes to watch. Renjun turns his face into the night breeze and tries to quiet his mind.

“Renjun!” two voices call at the same time. Renjun opens his eyes to find Donghyuck and Jaemin staring at each other. Well. At least he won’t have to detain anyone.

“Hi.” He stands, pocketing his phone. “You both offered to show me around, and I’m pretty sure you both know each other?” He pauses just in case, but since the two of them are still locked in a staring contest, he doesn’t get much of a response. “So I thought it might be good for us all to go together.”

The staring contest continues. Finally, Donghyuck looks down. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Jaemin doesn’t stop staring even though he’s technically won. “It’s good to see you.”

Donghyuck nods, still looking at the ground. “You, too. I wasn’t sure if you’d stayed in town, after …”

“After the war?” Jaemin prompts when Donghyuck doesn’t finish. Renjun bites the inside of his lip to keep from interrupting. That’s news to him. “I did. I like it here.”

“That’s good.” Donghyuck glances up, then seems to notice Renjun staring with raised brows. “What?”

“Nothing, just enjoying the show.” Renjun waves. “Please, feel free to continue.”

Donghyuck shoves him gently. Jaemin smiles. “Did you have somewhere in mind to start this tour?”

“Well.” Donghyuck lights up. “Since you asked …”

They start a conversation about places Renjun’s only heard of in passing while Renjun shoves them both down the sidewalk toward the bus stop. Maybe this night won’t be as awkward as expected.

***

Renjun sets his book on the grass when he finishes it. He’s still not sure how he ended up in Central Park with Jaemin lounging directly on the grass beside him, not even bothering to glamour him blue hair away. He’s even less sure how Donghyuck knew to come find them once the sun set, because Renjun definitely didn’t contact him and he’s been under the impression that Jaemin and Donghyuck don’t really talk away from him. But there he sits under the stars on Renjun’s other side.

Donghyuck points at his book with a questioning eyebrow. Renjun shakes his head; he’s fine like this. They rest under the night sky long enough that Renjun almost falls asleep between them. He startles back into awareness when Jaemin stands.

Jaemin dusts himself off in that unfairly magical way of his, without seeming to do anything. (Yes, Renjun can snap his fingers and accomplish the same thing. No, that’s not the point). He smiles a little smaller than usual. “I have to go. I promised to help Mark set something up.”

“Bye. Good luck? Bye.” Renjun waves him off. Donghyuck nods, but doesn’t get up until Jaemin has disappeared into the trees.

Donghyuck dusts himself off the normal way as Renjun packs his things away. “I guess I should get going, too.”

“Oh. Um.” He should not be this nervous over a simple question. Renjun steels himself. “I was going to ask if you wanted to go to Taki’s. They have blood for vampires, right?”

Donghyuck blinks at him a couple of times, preternaturally still the way only vampires can really sell. “You were?”

“Yeah, I figured it would be a place where we could both eat. And then.” He steels himself again. It has to happen eventually. “I think we should talk.”

It’s like all the fight goes out of Donghyuck at once, even though he doesn’t breathe. “It’s pretty overdue, huh?”

Renjun nods. “And if we’re going to keep doing this,” he waves at their general space, “it’s better if we’re not all awkwardly not talking about things, you know?” _I_ _’ve missed you,_ he doesn’t say. But maybe he can soon.

“Yeah.” Donghyuck’s gaze is warm. Not quite what it used to be, but so much better than the way he’d looked when he showed up at Renjun’s door. “I’ve missed you, you know?”

So, they go to Taki’s. The ifrit at the door eyes Donghyuck for some reason Donghyuck refuses to explain, but they get in and order before sitting at a corner table. Renjun settles better in his seat once their orders arrive. Donghyuck doesn’t speak while Renjun eats, just sips at the blood they heated for him and watches Renjun. It’s almost like old times.

“So.” Donghyuck presses both hands flat against the tabletop. “I don’t know where to start, actually.”

“Me neither.” Renjun lets his head roll against the back of his seat. “On the one hand, it was 150 years ago? Even for Downworlders a century can be a long time. On the other hand …” he lets himself sigh, looking back at Donghyuck. “I loved you.” Something about the past tense pricks at him, though he doesn’t want to examine it. “I didn’t want to leave you. It hurt, and I missed you, and I was angry. I’m not anymore,” he hurries to add when Donghyuck starts to look down. “But—it was a lot. For you, too, I’m sure. I don’t know how to talk about it.”

“Yeah.” Donghyuck keeps his gaze on his hands, but he slips into French as he continues. “I—you were right, in Paris. The clan was trying to use me to control you. I sort of knew then what they were doing, but I couldn’t see it clearly the way you could. I’m sorry for that.”

Renjun waves it off. “I told you, I’m not angry anymore.”

“Still. I was so focused on my goal I didn’t notice what it was doing to you.” Donghyuck gives a self-deprecating smile. “And I couldn’t even tell you what it was.”

“Can you tell me now?”

Donghyuck shrugs. “It’ll sound stupid. I did think Paris would just be a sightseeing trip, but Marcel made me an offer the first time we saw him again. He wanted us to work together on some project of his. I didn’t care about that, but he offered to let me observe some of his tricks, the way he ran the clan, all that.” He waves a hand. “I had been thinking about what stability would look like, and I thought if I knew how to run a clan instead of running around on my own all the time, it might be easier to find.” He grimaces. “Of course, I realized after you left that Marcel had mainly wanted me as a connection to you, and that without you I’d lost any stability I originally had, so I really fucked myself over there.”

“I … can’t really argue with that.” Renjun puts a hand on Donghyuck’s arm. “Thank you for telling me. It doesn’t sound stupid.” It sounds like something everyone wants eventually. At least he can bury that part of his past now. “I’m sorry that my leaving messed things up for you.”

Donghyuck shakes his head vehemently. “Don’t, please. You were right not to let them use you. I might wish we could have worked it out, but don’t be sorry you stood up for yourself.”

“Oh, I’m not,” that gets Donghyuck to laugh, finally, “but I am sorry that you couldn’t get what you wanted.”

Donghyuck turns his arm until his palm rests under Renjun’s. “I’m not,” he says softly. “It was a lesson I needed to learn. Thank you for teaching it to me.”

Renjun has to blink away a few tears very quickly before Donghyuck notices. “You, too,” he whispers, “taught me lessons I needed to learn. I thank you for them.”

They move back to safer topics until the waitress comes by to get their plates. Renjun’s chest feels looser, now. By the time they leave Taki’s, the sky is starting to lighten. Renjun drags Donghyuck back to his apartment before Donghyuck can argue, though Donghyuck refuses to move from. He goes to bed with a vampire in the living room and gets the best sleep he’s gotten since moving to New York.

***

_Rome, 1835_

Renjun dragged Donghyuck out of the Coliseum before the crowd could close in. Donghyuck seemed to find it very amusing as they escaped down a few side streets, but Renjun would much rather not have his sightseeing interrupted by a crush of people, thank you. They made their way back into the more lived-in part of the city, almost touching but never quite making it after Renjun let go of Donghyuck’s arm. Renjun kept an eye out for a good turn-off as they walked.

Donghyuck had said he didn’t want to be bored. Renjun had understood—he invited Donghyuck over in the first place because he _was_ bored. He was not bored now, but—why wait?

He tugged Donghyuck into the opening of a nearby alley.

Donghyuck went easily enough, smirking. “Should I be concerned for my virtue?”

Renjun snorted. “As if you have any left, after the stories you’ve told me.”

Donghyuck shrugged.

Renjun pulled at his shirt, stepping back until his own back hit the wall. “It’s okay,” he whispered, shivering when Donghyuck’s available skin brushed his. “I don’t either.”

He let himself melt into the wall when Donghyuck finally kissed him. Sharp fangs got in the way, but that only sent a shiver up Renjun’s spine. He wrapped his arms around Donghyuck’s neck. Taking a vampire along on his trip had been such a good idea.

***

Donghyuck comes alive—as it were—as soon as the sun goes down. Renjun’s couch, far enough from the windows that even if Renjun hadn’t brought in blackout curtains at some point Donghyuck wouldn’t have to worry about the sun, makes a pretty good bed. Donghyuck sits up. Renjun must be asleep or working in his office, because the room looks exactly as they’d left it before Donghyuck passed out and both doors are closed.

Donghyuck makes his way out of the building quietly. Renjun’s been warmer, somehow, since they talked but Donghyuck doesn’t want to push it. He doesn’t ever want to bring back the Renjun from Paris. He texts a thank-you and slips away before Renjun can stop him. He might have made it all the way home without stopping, except he almost runs face-first into Jaemin

They both stop. “Hi.”

Donghyuck waves and wants to smack his own hand. How childish. “Hey.”

Jaemin glances at Renjun’s building. “Did you just come from an incredibly short visit or did you spend the day here?”

“I spent the day here. Renjun and I went to Taki’s after you left to talk and it ended up late enough he said I should just sleep on the couch.”

Jaemin nods. Something in his face seems tight, but Donghyuck never spent much time trying to read Jaemin’s face. “Did you have a good time?”

Donghyuck shrugs. “I don’t know if I would call it fun, but it could have been a lot worse, for sure.” He doesn’t want Jaemin to ask, so he shifts closer to the street. “You—the two of you know each other from before, right?” They have to. There are too many references Donghyuck doesn’t understand between them. It stirs something odd in Donghyuck’s chest.

“Yes.” Jaemin is unfairly pretty in any pose, but looking down like this casts his face in the streetlight’s shadow. “We were in love, once. Long before either of us came here.”

Oh. Oh, that explains it. Donghyuck shoves down the question of _why aren_ _’t you still_ because even if it’s insane that someone could have Renjun and let him go … he did it, so he doesn’t get to ask.

Jaemin isn’t looking at him. He’s looking up at Renjun’s window with something in his eyes that almost feels familiar. He thinks Jaemin might have looked at him like that once or twice, before Donghyuck ran away a dozen times and refused to answer any question Jaemin ever asked. Is this what it feels like to lose something that never even started? Donghyuck’s heart hasn’t beat in centuries, but it aches now almost as badly as it did with Renjun. He steps to the side, almost in the street. “You’re going up to see him, right?”

Jaemin looks back to him. “Yes, I was asked to pick up something for a friend.” He cocks his head. “You don’t have to go.”

But the look in Jaemin’s eyes now is one Donghyuck doesn’t remember seeing before. If there’s a possibility to be lost here, it’s on Donghyuck, just like what happened with Renjun. He shakes his head, moving past Jaemin carefully. “I have something to do. You two have fun.” They’ll have more fun without him, surely.

Jaemin doesn’t try to stop him again. Donghyuck makes it back to the hotel without really seeing where he walks.

***

_Rome, 1893_

Jaemin hummed when Donghyuck sent them tumbling down a hill in his hurry to get … somewhere. Jaemin still wasn’t sure where. Rome had proven very interesting even before he ran into Donghyuck, but that didn’t mean he knew where anything was. Jaemin gentled their roll with a hand scraping through the grass. They slid past a few trees, luckily without hitting any. Donghyuck laughed when they finally came to a stop. Something about it didn’t quite sound right. Enchanting as ever, yes, but dark.

“What’s funny?”

“Just,” one hand came up within Jaemin’s view in a wave, “generally. I don’t know.” He set his forehead against Jaemin’s chest, a welcome weight despite the cold. “I never thought I’d be back here so soon,” he muttered into Jaemin’s shirt, “and I really didn’t think I’d run into you. So it’s funny.”

Jaemin tipped Donghyuck’s head back by his chin until they could look each other in the eye. “You are upset.”

“I’m—”

“Let me finish.” He stroked a thumb along the side of Donghyuck’s face. “If this is what you want, I’m glad to oblige, but please don’t deceive me. Something hurt you.”

Donghyuck’s eyes went big and sad. So expressive, human eyes, even if they didn’t alter like fey features. “Yes.”

“You don’t want to talk about it.”

Donghyuck shook his head.

Jaemin kissed him, coaxing open Donghyuck’s mouth without any hurry. Donghyuck actually took a few breaths when Jaemin pulled back. He licked his lips, seeming to will his fangs away. He was so beautiful, Jaemin just wanted to cherish every inch.

“Shall we?”

Donghyuck nodded slowly. Jaemin tried not to get too smug about things anymore, but he really liked the way Donghyuck’s eyes went foggy. “Not here, though.”

“But it could be so fun.” Jaemin laughed at the unimpressed look Donghyuck gave him. “Where were you taking me, then?”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Come on, I’ll show you.” He pushed himself up and led Jaemin away by the hand, slightly slower this time. Jaemin held on tight. Hurt or healed, one night or more, Jaemin didn’t know how he was supposed to resist Donghyuck.

***

Jaemin is repotting his more delicate herbs when Chenle waltzes by. The Shadow Market is open to anyone who can find it, but Jaemin has rarely seen any of the people he used to call friends here since he left. Chenle raises his eyebrows and points at the row of plants that remain. Jaemin nods. Chenle wiggles webbed fingers before grabbing a pot and digging in.

They slip away from the stall after. Jaemin leaves his usual glamour on it, to hide his plants from prying eyes and scorch anyone who sees past it and tries to take one anyway. He leads Chenle through the ridiculous metal jungle of the city to Central Park—Jaemin got used to cities a long time ago, but he still prefers to sleep where there are trees.

“So?” Chenle perches on a log when they stop. “I’ve seen that look before, whose heart did you break this time?”

“I haven’t broken any hearts!” Jaemin leans back against the tree. “Not since everything happened with Renjun.” Part of him still flinches from remembering the look on Renjun’s face the day Jaemin went back to Faerieland. “I’m just very confused.”

“Because?” Chenle draws the word out interminably.

Jaemin tries to summarize.

“Okay, two things.” Chenle holds up one finger. “Who is Donghyuck? Is this the vampire you were hooking up with a couple centuries ago?”

“It’s so weird to hear you use modern terms.” Jaemin sighs. “Yes.”

“Okay.” Chenle holds up the second finger. “Why not just have both of them? If you like them both.”

“That’s—not really my issue, but thank you for pointing it out.” Chenle waves the hand with two fingers still upheld impatiently. “Having both of them would require both of them to want _me._ ”

Chenle rolls his eyes. “You know I know that, but if you’ve been hooking up with one of them and were with the other for that long, I imagine there’s at least a _smidge_ of attraction still there.”

Jaemin rolls his eyes right back. “Nice as that sounds,” and oh, it does sound nice, the idea of all three of them together, “that’s not what I’m concerned with right now.”

“So?”

Jaemin lets himself slide down the trunk until he sits in the grass. “I have never been able to tell what Donghyuck thinks or wants, beyond his occasional willingness to associate with me.” He’s never had reason to count them, but he can still run a series of those encounters in his head—Donghyuck flirting, Donghyuck laughing, Donghyuck _crying_ , on one memorable occasion—but it doesn’t erase the rest. Donghyuck silent, Donghyuck staring, Donghyuck turning away. “I made it clear a long time ago that I would have been interested in more, and he never took me up on it. He comes and goes like the wind. I have no idea what he wants.”

Chenle cocks his head, the tip of one pointed ear almost brushing the vines that draped from the tree next to his log. “If he’s so confusing, why do you want him?”

“Because he’s—Donghyuck.” Jaemin scrubs a hand over his face. “He’s like the sun at midnight. But I can’t do anything about it if I don’t know what he wants.”

Chenle nods thoughtfully. “What about the other one?”

“You’re going to have to remember their names at some point, you know.”

He sniffs. “I’ll do that if you keep one. So?”

“Renjun.” Jaemin closes his eyes. “I love him.”

“Still?”

“Always. I …” he sighs. “I had good reason to tell him not to wait for me, and I don’t think he did. By the time I was able to come back to the human world, I had no idea where to find him. I wasn’t expecting to see him here.” He plucks a few strands of grass to braid. “I don’t—it would be cruel of me to pretend nothing ever happened. That I didn’t hurt him deeply.”

“So don’t hurt him again.” Chenle slips off the log to come stand over Jaemin. “This was when you were summoned back to court, right?”

“You already know it was.”

Chenle smirks. “Well, it’s not like that can ever happen again. What are you so worried about?”

Jaemin taps Chenle’s nose with the end of the braid. “You are a good friend,” he says much more solemnly than he usually bothers speaking, “did you know that? Even if you restate the obvious at me.”

He lets himself grin again as Chenle squawks. “You came out to talk to me about something else, though?”

Chenle is, in fact, full of words as he sits next to Jaemin and complains about all the court dramas he would not be allowed to speak of there. Jaemin makes more braids as Chenle talks, asks a couple of questions, and plans what he’ll make for Renjun when the braids are done.

***

_London, 1897_

Renjun let Jaemin pull him into the museum without looking at the sign. He’d promised to let Jaemin surprise him, and he wasn’t going to break that, even if Jaemin had apparently forgotten that he could do something like blindfold Renjun. Jaemin led him through the entryway and down another hall before he stopped and turned.

“You can look now.”

“I could always have looked,” Renjun teased as he stepped around Jaemin. “I’m just indulging you.”

That got him a feather-light kiss across one cheekbone. “Thank you for your indulgence.”

Renjun’s cheeks warmed as he peered around at the paintings littering the walls. “Did you know I like this style of art?” He reached out, almost brushing a painting of Aphrodite on a shell. “It’s ridiculous, of course, whatever mundanes think about magic, but it’s nice to look at.”

“I guess.” Jaemin set his chin on Renjun’s shoulder. “Does that mean you’ll enjoy this?”

Renjun brought a hand up to Jaemin’s cheek. His skin was just as soft as the first time Renjun had done this, the first time they’d kissed. He wasn’t quite over the strangeness of how warm Jaemin was, but … “I will enjoy this very much. Thank you for the surprise.”

Jaemin smiled, kissing Renjun’s palm before straightening. He took that hand in his. “Anything to make you smile.”

Renjun tucked himself under Jaemin’s arm as they progressed into the gallery. Warmth didn’t sound so bad, actually.

***

Renjun resists the urge to throw his book across his office at one of his exes. It doesn’t help that the illustrations remind him of the art gallery Jaemin had taken him to once. He puts it back on the shelf.

When he turns back with another book, Jaemin is watching. He glances at the book Renjun left behind, then back to Renjun, and smirks as though he knows what Renjun had been thinking. Renjun flips back to the bookshelf so he doesn’t have to deal with that gaze.

He pretends he isn’t blushing as he selects a better stack of books. It’s the only way to combat Jaemin when he’s in this mood. And if he has to think too hard about the last time Jaemin looked at him like that, he’ll cry, so it’s better not to engage.

Donghyuck watches the two of them from the corner. Renjun isn’t sure why they’re so interesting, but he’s also still not sure how Donghyuck and Jaemin know each other, so. He takes the books back to his desk.

“Don’t you get tired of reading so much?”

Jaemin drifts over. Donghyuck watches. Renjun grabs a book. “I don’t know,” he says casually, not as though this conversation has ever been had before, “if there’s anything better than reading. So, no. I don’t think I ever could.”

Jaemin leans over his desk, closer than he’s been in decades. “I’d love to prove you wrong,” he croons, “but I have to get back to the Market.”

“You, working?”

“Me.” Jaemin grins with teeth before he turns away. He waves to each of them with a wink as he leaves. Renjun breathes a little easier in the space he leaves behind, but it feels dimmer. Donghyuck looks a little shell-shocked, too.

“He’s so—” Renjun waves a hand. “Did you ever figure out how to deal with it?”

Donghyuck snorts. “You’re kidding, right? I’ve never known how to handle him.” He’s thinking about something specific, if the way his gaze goes distant is any indication. Dongyhuck shakes it off quickly.

“How _do_ you know each other, anyway?”

Donghyuck shrugs. “Oh, we’ve run into each other maybe a dozen times over the years? Just here and there.” He doesn’t look at Renjun. “Before I left Korea, then,” he waves a hand, “here and there. I think I even ran into him in Rome, once, when I went back—” he cuts himself off too late to stop Renjun from freezing.

“You went back to Rome?”

Renjun’s immune to the _encanto_ , all Downworlders are, but Donghyuck’s eyes sometimes made him feel like he would fall prey to it. As they do now. Renjun opens his mouth but can’t find anything to say. Donghyuck seems pretty affected as well.

“Sorry,” he says finally. He clears his throat. “I should, uh. Let you get back to work, actually.” Donghyuck doesn’t wait for Renjun to speak before he darts out the door after Jaemin.

Once he’s gone, Renjun buries his face in his hands and screams. It’s fine, he put a soundproofing spell on the whole apartment his first day here. No mundanes will hear Downworld business or Renjun shrieking in frustration. When he’s done, he picks up his phone and calls Jeno.

Jeno is not, apparently, surprised to hear him practically shrieking into the phone as soon as he picks up. _“Hello to you, too. What’s up?”_

“I have had the most confusing time in New York.”

 _“Aren’t you still_ in _New York?_ _”_

“Yes, and it’s still confusing.” He tries to explain what’s been going on without getting too emotional, but it’s hard, so: “Jeno,” he whines, “I’m so confused. What is going on here?” Jeno won’t mind, not after all the times Renjun has sat through his various drunken or pining (or both) rants and walked him through the resulting hangovers.

 _“It sounds like they like you.”_ Jeno just sounds amused.

“Well, I knew that.” He sniffs. “I’m very likable. And they both liked me at one point, it’s not unreasonable to think they might like me again.” It’s a little silly, but not out of the realm of possibility. “It’s just … I don’t understand what they’re doing.”

_“So ask?”_

“I’m sorry, have you met me? If I could just ask we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

 _“Okay, damn. I’ll ask you then—what do_ you _want?_ _”_

“I was really hoping you wouldn’t say that.” Renjun wanders toward the nearest window. The apartment’s views are pretty good, though he’d have been happy with it no matter what. The apartment’s value isn’t in the view. He closes his eyes. “I don’t know what I want.”

_“Because seeing your exes is a lot or because you’re torn between them?”_

“Not exactly either …” He bites his lip. “Paris was both our faults. I think Donghyuck still feels guilty about it, but I’ve known for a long time that we did that to ourselves, and the city did it to us. I don’t know how much of it was the city, though. What if we just can’t work?”

 _“And Jaemin?”_ Jeno’s voice hardens on Jaemin’s name. He never made it a secret what he thought of either of them. Renjun paces away from the window. It’s probably fair, since Jeno was the one to pick up all the pieces after. Both times.

“Jaemin’s worse, because it’s no one’s fault.” He swallows down the ache of cold reality. “It wasn’t like he could just say fuck the court and stay with me.”

_“Well.”_

“No. Don’t start with me again. It’s no one’s fault, the circumstances sucked, but it is what it is.” He swallows hard. “It’s just that I don’t know if I can handle that happening again.”

The line stays quiet. Jeno’s always known when not to push Renjun, since they were both barely thirty and scraping for food with self-taught magic.

“Besides,” Renjun turns from the window, “it’s been so long since I’ve seen either of them. Who knows if they’re even interested anymore.”

Jeno sighs. _“Well, if you won’t ask them anything and you won’t let me beat them up, I don’t know what to tell you.”_

“I …” he sighs. “I suppose I have to talk to them, don’t I.”

_“If you want anything more to happen, yeah.”_

“I hate this.”

_“Sucks to suck.”_

Renjun groans. “Why am I friends with you again?”

 _“Because I saved your life and then you saved mine and also I love you.”_ Jeno sounds as dry as he had earlier until the last part, which is as warm as a hug. Renjun coos.

“I think that’s enough about my disaster of a love life. What have you been up to since the last time we talked ? How’s Seoul?”

Renjun curls up in an armchair and lets Jeno tell him all about his feud with the local wolf pack and their—apparently—insultingly cute leader Xiaojun. It’s nice, to let himself float along with his best friend’s voice and not worry about who’s watching or whose feelings he might be hurting. He can think about those tomorrow.

***

_Paris, 1885_

Renjun held very tightly to his glass as Donghyuck paced the length of their hotel room. The sun would be up soon. He just needed to finish this conversation before the sun came up.

“I don’t understand,” Donghyuck was saying. “Is it that you have a problem with what they’re requesting specifically, or is it that you just don’t want to work with them?”

“It’s not either.” Renjun set the glass down before he could break it. “I’m not your clan’s—and by the way, when did this become your clan, because I distinctly recall you telling me you didn’t like Saint Cloud or his group—I am not your clan’s pet warlock. I have done favors because you asked, but I’m not willing to do anything they like just because they think they can get to me through you.”

“And you think Marcel will just take that?” Donghyuck demanded. He looked half-undone already, shirt unbuttoned, hair a mess. “There’s a reason no one challenges him here.”

“Then why are we here?” It felt good to finally say it. “You have a problem with Marcel, fine, you’re wrapped up in the politics and can’t leave now, fine. But why start it in the first place?”

Donghyuck stared.

Renjun clasped his hands between his knees before he did something stupid with them. “When we met, you told me you didn’t like Paris. When we came here, you said it would be for a few days and didn’t I want to see the sights one more time? That can’t have been it, because otherwise we would have been on a boat out of this country after the first week. What’s so important that you have to stay here?”

“There are things I need to do,” Donghyuck responded slowly. “I can’t do them anywhere else. I don’t like Marcel, I don’t like being here any more than you do, but I can’t go until I’ve finished this.”

“Things like what?”

Donghyuck wouldn’t answer.

“Right.” Renjun stood. “So this is important enough for you to let them use me like a pet magician, but you can’t tell me. That’s good to know.” He made for the door. Donghyuck grabbed for his wrist. Renjun sidestepped. “I’m going downstairs,” he said quietly. “If you want me to come back up, come down and talk to me. If not, I’ll find somewhere else to be.”

Donghyuck grabbed for him again. Renjun allowed it. “It’s not that simple.” His face—Renjun had rarely seen Donghyuck look truly upset, but even then it had never been this bad. He looked like Renjun had stabbed him. Renjun probably looked the same. “I didn’t plan this, either. Please don’t leave.”

“Can you tell me why you’re about to let a vampire clan walk all over me?” Renjun whispered.

Donghyuck dropped his gaze.

“That’s what I thought.” Renjun twisted his wrist out of Donghyuck’s grip. “I’ll be downstairs if you change your mind.

Donghyuck didn’t change his mind.

***

Donghyuck has to force himself to be still on the way up to Renjun’s apartment. He doesn’t have his own glamour like Renjun or Jaemin, so if he vibrates out of his skin the woman in the elevator with him will actually see it. He does let himself skip a little down the hall to Renjun’s door.

He pauses in the open doorway. Jaemin stands over Renjun, just far enough away that it doesn’t look inappropriate for a regular conversation. Donghyuck could hear them talking all the way down the hall with vampiric ears, but the words slide away from him now. Jaemin’s ears are faintly pink. Renjun is blushing. Jaemin reaches to brush some of Renjun’s hair behind his ear.

Donghyuck doesn’t breathe, hasn’t even pretended to in ages. He still feels like the air is kicked out of him. It’s not like he didn’t know how he feels about Renjun. It’s not like he didn’t have eyes to see how Jaemin feels about Renjun, or how red Renjun gets around Jaemin.

It’s just that he’s spent so long pretending not to notice either that he never quite put together how badly he wants to be between them. The hall feels even colder than he is.

Donghyuck turns to leave. He doesn’t think either even notices him.

***

Renjun drags Jaemin all the way up to his apartment without speaking as soon as Jaemin decides his shift at his stall is over. He nearly slams his door shut. “Okay. Talk.”

Jaemin blinks a few times. “You seem a little worked up.”

“Gee, I wonder whose fault that is?” Renjun waves Jaemin back until they can both reach the couch. He drops into the nearest corner, barricading himself against the arm. “You’re driving me nuts. Just tell me what’s going on, please.”

Jaemin perches on the other arm. Everything he does looks inhumanly graceful. It’s not fair. “I’m not trying to be obtuse about this,” he starts, and holds out both hands when Renjun glares, “I’m not. But I need you to be a little more specific. We’ve all three been spending a lot of time together.”

“I mean,” Renjun grits through his teeth, “the flirting. But if you want to talk about Donghyuck after that, feel free.”

“Ah. I see.” Jaemin pauses with a little frown. “I don’t know how to be clearer about this.” He cocks his head. “I hope this doesn’t upset you.”

Renjun cocks an eyebrow.

“I love you.”

Renjun chokes. “You—”

“I love you,” Jaemin repeats, watching him with those ever-shifting eyes. “I never stopped, but I think I would have fallen in love with you again very quickly.”

“What are you talking about?” It’s not that he hadn’t considered the possibility, but—“You never said that before.”

Jaemin nods slowly. “I don’t think I knew it then. I knew you were very important to me, but I don’t think I knew love enough to know I had fallen in love with you until after I no longer had you.”

Renjun’s throat aches even though he’s barely said anything. “It felt like you did,” he admits, and his voice feels raw, “even if you never said it. I didn’t say it either, so—I’m not trying to blame you for not, is what I’m saying.”

Jaemin nods again.

“But—that doesn’t really answer my question.” Renjun waves between them. “We’ve tried this before. What makes this time different?”

Jaemin cocks his head the other direction. “I told you I would try to find you again. You know I did not realize you were here, but that does not mean I did not look.”

“That was over a century ago.” Renjun pulls himself tighter. “I waited for you, you know?”

Emotion shows so clearly on Jaemin’s face, despite all the reasons a Seelie fey would have not to allow it. He looks so surprised, beautiful with it in the afternoon light from Renjun’s window. “I told you not to.”

“I know.” He shrugs. “I wanted to, though.” It had sucked. It was like all the life went out of London after Jaemin left, color leaching out of everything and minutes stretching on. “And it wasn’t like I had anywhere important to be. I stayed in London for a few years before I realized you weren’t coming back and had to leave.” Almost ten years, in fact. He’d never realized before that it matched how long he’d been alone after Donghyuck. Renjun fiddled with one of his throw pillows. “That’s not my point. My point is—we were together, and whether or not we said it, we were in love. And you didn’t get a choice about leaving me. You couldn’t even tell me how to find you, or when you’d be back. I understand it,” he holds up a hand to stop Jaemin’s protest, “I’m not saying it was wrong. I understand why you didn’t even suggest I follow you. I imagine that wouldn’t have ended well.”

Jaemin actually shudders slightly. “No. You can take care of yourself, but that would not have been wise.”

Renjun nods. “I figured. So what I’m asking is: what’s different now? You told me not to wait for you before.” He closes his eyes. “And honestly, I don’t know if I can take that a second time.”

“No.” The air in his apartment is usually still, so much so that when Jaemin moves Renjun feels a slight stir from his speed even though his eyes are closed. Jaemin’s hands cup his face. “Renjun, rosebud, look at me. Please.”

Renjun opens his eyes. Jaemin hovers bare centimeters away with a look Renjun doesn’t think he’s seen before. Which is saying something, considering how expressive Jaemin is.

The corner of Jaemin’s mouth quirks up. “I would not ask you to do that again. I swear it.”

“Then what—”

“Why do you think I live here?” Jaemin asks gently. “Sell herbs at the Shadow Market when I want, and sleep in Central Park? Have you seen me with other members of court or being called away for something small?”

Renjun shakes his head. “Just some of the wild faeries in the Market.” He’s not sure why he never noticed.

“I left,” Jaemin tells him. “I went wild. After the war. After.” He swallows. “I did not like what my court did to help an evil man. I know we are not like other factions, we do not always see things the same way, but the Seelie Queen took that too far.” His thumbs stroke so, so gently over Renjun’s cheekbones. “There is no court to call me. I have few reasons to return to Faerieland of my own choice. I won’t ever have to leave.”

“You what?” Renjun’s voice cracks.

“I left.” Jaemin nods. “I wish I’d had the strength to do so before.”

“Are you—this isn’t the kind of thing you’d joke about but are you kidding me? You just _left?_ Why?”

Jaemin shakes his head. “Listen to me carefully. Faeries can’t lie, so you can believe me when I tell you: I love you. I loved you before, even if I didn’t know it. I wish I hadn’t left. I have thought of you every day since and wished I had done things differently, wished to find you.” He tucks a bit of hair behind Renjun’s ear. “I have been with other people, and thought about other people, but there has not been a day I did not think of you. If you let me love you, I will never leave you again. I swear it.”

“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep,” Renjun whispers.

“I can keep this one,” Jaemin insists. “As much as is physically possible. Short of death or destruction or you ordering me away, I will never leave you if you let me.”

Renjun’s eyes burn. He blinks away what might possibly be tears if he allowed them out. It takes a second to force the words out around his heart in his throat. “You can’t ever, okay?” He wraps his hands around Jaemin’s wrists. “You can’t ever leave me again. I couldn’t bear it.”

Jaemin’s mouth is on his before Renjun can say anything more, familiar and strange all at once. Renjun opens his mouth as he pulls Jaemin closer by the front of his shirt. Jaemin obliges by wrapping his arms around Renjun’s waist until they’re as close as physically possible. Renjun falls into it the way he falls into everything with Jaemin, easy as breathing but so, so sweet. Time blurs a little. Renjun must pause at one point because Jaemin’s ears go very red when he whispers “I love you” into them. Otherwise, he’s not sure how long it’s been when he remembers he has lungs.

“So,” Renjun pulls back to breathe, “wait.” He puts a hand over Jaemin’s mouth. “Don’t you start messing with my hand, this is important. What’s your thing with Donghyuck then?”

Jaemin blinks. “Oh, right.” He pulls Renjun’s hand down to speak properly. “We used to—what’s the word—we were not together, but whenever we met, in the past, if we were both unattached we would … spend time together.”

Renjun gapes. “You used to hook up, is what you’re telling me?”

“Yes, that word.”

Renjun puts a hand over his face. Jaemin strokes his hair patiently. “That explains some things.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, it explains why the two of you look at each other like that. Or partly, anyway.” He peeks through his fingers. “Were there feelings involved? I’m not jealous, I just want a clear picture.”

Jaemin frowns. “Donghyuck confuses me. I don’t know what he felt. For my part …” He tilts his head back slightly. “He is enchanting, no matter where I find him.”

Renjun nods along. “So you liked each other—”

“You don’t know that.”

“Please, I lived with Donghyuck for fifty years, I know what he likes.” Renjun shakes his head at Jaemin’s look. “I’ll explain after. You liked each other—possibly—but you never really did more than spend the night together.”

Jaemin nods.

“Yeah, that explains it.” Mostly, anyway. He’s still not sure why Donghyuck gets so skittish sometimes. “About the other thing, uh. Do you remember what I told you about my ex? The one I’d broken up with a few years before we met?”

“Of course. That was Donghyuck?”

Renjun nods. “We were together for a long time. You remember how it ended.” He shrugs. “We got our closure that night we went to Taki’s, so it hasn’t been too awkward, but every once in a while things get weird.”

Jaemin strokes Renjun’s spine ever so gently. “Does closure mean you would not be interested?” He asks, voice as delicate as his fingers. “If Donghyuck wanted?”

Renjun blinks. “Do you mean—all three of us? That’s what you’re asking, right, not if I’d leave you for him.”

Jaemin nods. “That’s what I’m asking.”

“I—” Renjun chews on his lip. “How do you know he does?”

“I don’t. But if you like him, and I like him, and he’s been interested in us in the past …” Jaemin waves a hand. “It seems like a fair question.”

Renjun sets his head on Jaemin’s shoulder. “I would.” It cracks something in the carefully bandaged space in his heart to think about. “If he wanted, if you wanted, if we could be sure that something stupid wasn’t going to rip us all apart again.” He sighs. “But I don’t know what he wants.”

“I suppose we would have to ask.” Jaemin shifts back on the couch, pulling Renjun with him until they lie flat.

Renjun nods into his shirt. He smiles, though Jaemin won’t see it. “Besides, we only just talked things out ourselves a few minutes ago. You’re already trying to expand? Give me a minute to adjust here.”

“Oh, my apologies.” Jaemin doesn’t laugh, but it sounds like a near thing. He tugs Renjun up until their faces are level. “Can I make it up to you?”

Renjun keeps the smile as he leans down to kiss Jaemin.

***

_London, 1920_

Renjun held back tears with the last of his willpower. Jaemin sounded like he might be crying anyway, face in Renjun’s hair. One of them had to keep it together. He tightened his grip on Jaemin’s waist. Their room was a mess, but he couldn’t care beyond hoping the building’s maid wouldn’t interrupt them.

“I’m sorry,” Jaemin kept whispering. “Sorry, sorry, sorry.” Renjun didn’t think he’d ever actually heard Jaemin apologize before, not in these words. “I am bound, I cannot refuse a summons.”

Renjun tightened his arms even further. “Do you know what it’s for?” His voice didn’t come out as calm as he would have liked, but at least he could form words.

Jaemin shook his head. “Not the purpose, nor the duration. I am bound to serve the court when called. They don’t have to tell me anything until I am to actually complete tasks.”

So it could be five minutes or five centuries. Renjun felt colder than he had in a long time. He took a deep breath. “I’ll wait for you. I don’t care how long it takes. I can wait.”

Jaemin made an awful, mournful sound. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Renjun jerked back. He flinched when sunlight from the window caught his eye, but it didn’t change anything. Jaemin looked down at him with those beautiful eyes, sadder than he’d ever seen. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how long I will be gone.” He stroked the side of Renjun’s face. “I don’t know what they will ask of me. My only guesses are tasks that would take a long time. It would not be right for me to ask you to wait when I can have no idea what will happen.”

Renjun wanted to argue. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Jaemin kissed salt into his mouth. “If I had a choice, I would choose you,” he whispered without pulling back. “If I can get away and come find you, I will. But I can’t tie you here like that. It would be the kind of wrong my kind are reviled for. I never want to do that to you.”

Renjun broke. He shut his eyes against tears and reached out. He kissed Jaemin harder, winding his arms around Jaemin’s neck.

“Then make tonight worth it,” he said when he had to breathe again. “And I will hope to see you again.”

***

Donghyuck is often grateful that he doesn’t need to breathe—mostly because humans make the air smell awful at any given time—but now mostly because it makes it much easier not to groan as he walks into the nearest Downworld-friendly club to his hotel. Three of his vampires apparently got into a scuffle with some of the local wolf pack—at a time when they are trying very hard not to have trouble with anyone. He holds back the words he wants to spit until he separates them. The wolves don’t seem too upset, though their leader stays between them and him as Donghyuck grabs his idiots off the dance floor.

He drags them to the far corner through sheer force of will. “Tell me,” he lets his voice go silky smooth with threat, “exactly what you were thinking?”

One of them—the youngest, the newest, possibly the stupidest—opens his mouth. The other two elbow him in sync.

“No, go ahead and try to explain yourself.” Donghyuck gestures back at the werewolves. “Explain to me why now, in the middle of the best chance for peace we’ve had in decades, you want to fuck it up by playing with wolves. Explain to me how you think whatever ridiculous impulse you followed is more important than what our entire community has been working for since we fought two wars.” It’s possible he lets a little more emotion slip into his voice when he starts on the wars. It’s possible he thinks about Jaemin on a battlefield, Renjun god knows where. But he has a job to do, so he does it. Very precisely.

It would be embarrassing to admit that he cuts his rant off upon seeing Renjun because of how good he looks, so he pretends he’s just winding down and threatens more in private later. Renjun spots him and waves, but heads toward the werewolves first. One of them definitely had a bloody nose when Donghyuck came in, so it makes sense that he would go that direction. Donghyuck watches him under the pretense of letting his vampires stew under his gaze. Renjun is wearing robes—Donghyuck can’t remember the name of the style, but Renjun once said he grew up with it. The light green suits him. A little too much for an emergency call, actually.

“Hey,” Renjun says eventually, leaving behind healthy, if grumpy, werewolves to come join the vampires. “Is everything okay over here?”

“Yes.” Donghyuck gives his idiots another glare for good measure. “They’re very sorry for their bad behavior, aren’t you, babies?”

They chorus yeses without delay.

Renjun laughs. “That’s good. I didn’t have to do anything to you guys, so I won’t charge you, but the the owner doesn’t look too happy and I can’t help you there.”

“That’s fine. We’ll make sure to apologize for the trouble, won’t we?” His ‘babies’ nod yes this time almost before he’s done talking. He would feel bad if he didn’t have proof of the trouble they were getting into just a few minutes ago.

Renjun stifles a laugh. “I haven’t seen you around lately.” He glances over as he speaks, not seeming to care about their audience. Donghyuck barely covers a wince.

“You can see why.” He shoos his vampires away. They know better than to leave without him after something like this, but they don’t need to be witness to his pathetic drama. “I’ve been receiving what is, in my opinion, a disproportionate number of discipline calls.” Which is not untrue. As long as Renjun doesn’t ask what a proportionate number should look like. Or what the current number is.

“Oh?”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “It’s not like I’m the only person who can handle them. It’s not like there’s a whole group of other people who help run things and can be called for these things. It’s not like the rest of them know I don’t like getting these calls and save them for me when they want to annoy me.”

Renjun laughs in a way Donghyuck has not heard since before Paris.

“Well,” Renjun starts before a weird chime sounds behind them. Donghyuck turns. Jaemin pulls the front door closed behind him and weaves through the crowd like it isn’t even there. He smiles at Donghyuck even as he wraps an arm around Renjun’s waist. Renjun blushes a little, but leans into it.

Donghyuck doesn’t know why he’s surprised. Or why his heart bruises itself all over again, when he knew how they felt about each other. He smiles back and hopes it works. “How did you know we were here?”

“Oh, Renjun told me where he was going before he left, I just had to pay.” Jaemin’s wearing something that complements Renjun’s clothes even though Donghyuck can’t put a finger on what it is exactly—the fey wear strange things sometimes—and again, doesn’t notice Donghyuck looking because he’s already looking at Renjun. Donghyuck rips himself away before Jaemin can look back. “What happened?”

“Oh, nothing, just a few of my idiot children picking a fight with some werewolves.” Donghyuck tips his chin toward where the pack has finished picking themselves up and is trooping out the door. “I got called for clean-up.”

“They’ve been sending him on a lot of these, apparently,” Renjun tells Jaemin. He shifts closer under Jaemin’s arm. “That’s why he’s been busy.”

He _has_ been busy, and he would like to remain busy enough that he doesn’t have to see this right now. Donghyuck steps toward his charges. “Speaking of, we should get back so I can carry on with the discipline.” He refuses to watch for their reactions as he moves away.

Donghyuck drags his vampires out by their ears—almost literally, since he didn’t get to finish the rant earlier—but waits to speak until they’re further from the club and he has better control of his voice. “Now, where was I before our dear High Warlock saved part of your asses by telling me we won’t have to pay him?”

The lecture lasts all the way home, where Donghyuck turns them loose with one last warning. He makes it all the way back to his room without being disturbed, only to find Yangyang hanging from the rafters—well, the curtain rod over his window, since hotel rooms don’t really have rafters.

“Not tonight,” he sighs. “Usually this is funny, but I do not have the energy for more shenanigans tonight.”

Yangyang drops, twisting to land on his feet when he changes back from a bat to a human. “What happened?”

“Aside from the three idiots I had to go after?” Donghyuck drops to sit on his bed. “Renjun and Jaemin joined us from the middle of their date.”

“Oh, no.”

“Oh, yeah.” He lies back. “And so all I want to do right now is sleep.”

“Are you sure?” Yangyang leans over him, which means his hair almost gets in Donghyuck’s face before he moves out of the way. “Because as your only friend—”

“You are not my only friend.”

“As your _best_ friend,” Yangyang barges on, “I think it would help if you talk about it.”

Donghyuck pushes his head away. “Thanks for your concern, but no. We can talk after I sleep for twelve hours.”

“That would have you waking up in the middle of the day,” Yangyang points out, but he heads out the door when Donghyuck glares at him.

Donghyuck lies back and tries not to think. It doesn’t work.

He grabs his coat.

***

_New York, 2007_

Donghyuck didn’t expect to see Jaemin sitting on the ledge of a house’s front stairs in the middle of Manhattan, but then, he’d never expected to see Jaemin any of the times they had run into each other. Donghyuck slowed to a stop in front of the steps. Jaemin turned and smiled when he spotted Donghyuck. It felt different than his usual smile, but Donghyuck was not prepared to decipher things just now.

“What are you doing here?” Jaemin asked.

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” Donghyuck waved at the house. “Do you live here?”

Jaemin shook his head. “I don’t think anyone does. I just thought it was pretty.”

It was a pretty house, if one liked typical Manhattan architecture from about fifty years ago. “Are you going to Alicante tomorrow?”

Jaemin nodded. “In the morning. Are you?”

“Not in the morning, but I’m taking about half the clan as soon as it gets dark.” Donghyuck bit the inside of his lip. Would it be rude to make an overture when the last several had ended with Donghyuck running away after Jaemin asked questions Donghyuck wasn’t prepared to answer?

Jaemin brushed Donghyuck’s cheek with the back of one finger. Well, that answered that question. “If you’re awake and worried,” Jaemin whispered, “and I’m awake and worried, maybe we should distract each other?”

Donghyuck leaned into the touch as Jaemin added more fingers. “You’re not going to ask me anything?”

Jaemin smiled. This one was a little sad, but mostly amused. “No, I think I’ve learned my lesson.”

If Donghyuck were a better person, he would have corrected Jaemin right then. Instead, he took Jaemin’s hand and led him into the abandoned house.

***

Renjun is quieter than Jaemin has usually known him to be on the way home. Jaemin tucks Renjun under his arm and keeps him close all the way back to his apartment. Jaemin knows his way around the place well enough by now, even if Renjun pays little attention. Even if the places Donghyuck likes to sit feel a little too empty. Jaemin gets to work.

“Jaemin,” Renjun says after he’s curled into Jaemin’s lap with a blanket and finished a cup of tea. “What did you think of what happened earlier?”

“With Donghyuck?”

“Yeah.”

Jaemin runs the back of his fingers up Renjun’s spine through the blanket. “I’m not sure. I’ve always found Donghyuck inherently confusing. We’ve seen each other many times, but never for long before we met you again, and he rarely tells me things.” Much as Jaemin might wish otherwise, he doesn’t actually know Donghyuck very well. Tonight … “He seemed bothered by something, but I don’t know that I could guess what.”

Renjun nods slowly. “I think he might have realized that we’re together.”

“Did he not know?”

Renjun shrugs. “We weren’t hiding it or anything, but I hadn’t seen him in a while so I don’t know that he would have heard and we had other things to talk about while before you showed up.”

Jaemin tucks the blanket more firmly around Renjun. If Donghyuck has only now noticed … “You think he left like that because seeing us upset him?”

“I _think_ so.” Renjun plays with the front of Jaemin’s shirt as he thinks. It would be distracting if Jaemin weren’t so invested in Renjun’s ideas. “I’m no mind reader, but I think I still know Donghyuck well enough to make guesses. He doesn’t like having to stand around and watch things that make him uncomfortable. He _can,_ but he doesn’t like it.” Renjun pauses long enough that Jaemin almost asks a question. He’s glad to have kept his mouth shut when Renjun continues. “It was one of the things that made us both more stressed, in Paris. I can think of only a few reasons seeing us together would upset him. One, he’s mad at one or both of us and just doesn’t want to see it, but I think we would have more warning if something like that happened. Two, he suddenly hates us, which would be odd. Three, he’s jealous.”

“And you think the third is most likely?” Jaemin cocks his head. That would be nice, but he doesn’t want to rush ahead because of his own feelings.

“I think it’s more likely than the first, at least.” Renjun glances up through his lashes. “I know we talked about this before, but … what would you want to do if I’m right?”

Jaemin remembers the way Renjun flinched from talking about it before, the way he wanted to talk about them instead very quickly. He kisses Renjun’s forehead. “What do _you_ want?”

He blinks.

“You seemed worried about it last time. What’s different now?” Renjun smiles at the echo before resting his head on Jaemin’s shoulder. “I loved him very much,” he whispers. “You weren’t a replacement for that, I wasn’t looking for anything when I met you, but I also—after I left Paris, I wasn’t sure if I could do that to myself again, be willing to open myself like that.”

“And then I left you.” Left him alone in the world for the second time. Jaemin pulls Renjun closer.

“No.” Renjun latches onto him, arms like gentle brands even through his clothes. “Don’t think like that. Don’t feel bad anymore. We’re here now.”

Jaemin agrees.

“But that’s not quite my point.” Renjun sniffs, sitting up. He looks adorably determined. “You’re the last person I’ve loved so deeply, but before you, it was him. I can live without romance, I’ve been doing it for a hundred years now, if he doesn’t want us then I could handle that, but.” He bites his lip. “I think he might. And if he does, then I want to try. What about you?”

Jaemin kisses him. “I would like to try, if you’re right. I haven’t changed my mind. I would like to try, if you’re right.”

“And if I’m wrong we’ll just have embarrassed ourselves in front of a friend,” Renjun tries to joke. “No big deal. Do you think we should do this now?”

“Why not?”

Renjun nods. He leans over to the coffee table for his phone, trusting Jaemin’s grip to hold him up. The call rings through to the message that usually means a phone is off. Renjun tries a few more times and texts before pouting. Which is adorable. Jaemin shakes it away.

“Can you find him?” Renjun gestures with the phone Donghyuck isn’t answering. “You know the city better than I do still. And if you knew each other here, you might know where he would go?”

“Of course.” Jaemin kisses Renjun’s forehead before he bundles him down into the couch. “I’ll bring him back for you.”

“My hero,” Renjun says as though he’s joking, but his eyes shine with hope.

Jaemin blows him a kiss on his way out.

***

Donghyuck leans against the side of the steps leading to a house long abandoned. The cold would have bothered him when he was alive; now it just feels familiar. He closes his eyes against the street lamps shining right in his face. What is he even doing here?

Reliving his own stupidity, apparently. Donghyuck flexes his hands away from his knees. It’s his own fault he never reached out to Jaemin. It’s his own fault Renjun left him. It’s his own fault he couldn’t swallow his pride and admit he has actual feelings before they got wrapped up in each other again.

The house didn’t look nearly as bad the last time Donghyuck saw it—Jaemin had seemed to find the mild wear interesting, but it definitely hadn’t had broken windows then. Donghyuck cocks his head. It’s only been a few years since then. What could possibly have happened to it?

When he looks down, it’s only centuries of practice that keep him from jumping. Jaemin perches on the other sill, or whatever these side walls are called. “There you are. I looked everywhere else I could think, but your friends at the hotel said you went out without telling them where you would be.” He glances at the house, then back at Donghyuck. Jaemin’s very expressive, but here’s another look Donghyuck has never seen. “I didn’t expect you to end up here.”

Donghyuck shrugs. “It just happened.”

Jaemin is looking at the house again. “This was the last time, was it not?” his voice is quieter than before. “Before the war. Before I left the Seelie Court. Before we ran into each other around Renjun. It was here.”

“Yes.” The word feels dragged out of him.

Jaemin looks back at him. “I looked for you after,” he says just as quietly. “While they were all celebrating. I saw you on the field with your partner. I wanted to see if you were well. But I think you had already left?”

He shakes his head. “We had some people who were injured. The shadowhunters offered their medical facilities for the wounded, and a couple of warlocks decided to step in and help. I was keeping an eye on them. We left the morning after the party.”

“That sounds like you.” Faeries don’t have the _encanto,_ but Jaemin’s eyes almost feel like it.

“Oh?”

“That’s what you do. You take care of people. Even if it’s by scolding them, like those young vampires of yours earlier”

“And how would you know?” Donghyuck sits straighter. “It’s not like I ever let you close enough for that.”

Jaemin shrugs. “You didn’t have to. We might not have talked that much, but I’ve seen you enough to figure it out.”

He waves a hand. “That’s—”

“Would you tell me why?” Jaemin leans in. “You seem bothered by it now. Tell me why you never let me in?”

Donghyuck swallows. “I was just scared,” he whispers. “Not of you—of a lot of other things. When I first met you I didn’t know that we’d ever see each other again, and when we did, I was afraid that I would care too much for someone who I would barely ever see. Then everything with Renjun happened.” He clasps his hands in his lap. “I’m sure he’s told you about it. I was afraid to open myself like that again for a long time.”

And now it’s too late. Donghyuck bites back any more words. Jaemin nods along like this makes any sense at all. “I would have seen you more, you know,” he says. “If I had ever gotten the sense you wanted it.”

Donghyuck looks down. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

“Oh?”

“You’re together, right? You and Renjun.” He pushes himself upright. “You fixed it. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Jaemin stands, too, closer than Donghyuck would have expected. “But that’s not why I’m here.”

“Why are you here, then?”

“We need to talk to you.”

Donghyuck raises his eyebrows with the last of his composure. “About …?”

“About everything.” Jaemin holds out a hand. “Please? Renjun asked me to bring you back to him.”

He should say no, but he’s weak. Donghyuck takes Jaemin’s hand and lets himself be led back along the familiar path to Renjun’s apartment. Renjun is waiting in the little hallway when they arrive. He grabs Donghyuck’s other wrist and drags them both over to the couch. Jaemin lets go as Renjun pulls, and Donghyuck wonders when they got that in-sync even as he drops to the couch. Then Renjun climbs into his lap.

Donghyuck sputters. “Hello?”

Jaemin smirks over Renjun’s shoulder.

“I’m not taking the risk that you’ll leave before this conversation is over.” Renjun settles himself better on Donghyuck’s legs. “I need you to listen to me.”

“I—okay? About what?” He could guess but he very much doesn’t want to be wrong.

“About us,” Renjun says. He puts his hands on Donghyuck’s shoulders and bites his lip. Donghyuck very resolutely does not think about what he could do about that because Renjun’s boyfriend is staring at them. “There’s something I didn’t tell you, that night at Taki’s.”

“Okay?”

“When I fell in love with you,” Renjun’s voice shakes a little, “I had never been that deep before. I had thought I had before, but I was wrong. I really thought you were it.”

Well, ouch. Donghyuck opens his mouth. Jaemin shakes his head as Renjun slaps a hand over Donghyuck’s face.

“Shut up and let me talk. You know the part about us breaking up already. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to let someone in like that again.” Renjun moves his hand just in time for Donghyuck to catch him making doe eyes at Jaemin. “But just because I met Jaemin, doesn’t mean I fell out of love with you. I just dealt with the fact that I couldn’t have you.”

“Okay, I’m sorry, no, what is going on?” Donghyuck dodges the hand coming for his mouth this time.

Jaemin steps up to Renjun’s back, putting his hands on Renjun’s shoulders. “Let Renjun finish, please.”

“Thank you,” Renjun says primly, which should not be as attractive as it is. “My _point_ is, I still feel that way. And if I’m right.” He takes a shaky breath. “If I’m right about what I saw tonight, you do, too, right?”

“Um.” If Donghyuck still had blood moving through his veins on a regular basis he would be blushing. “Well. Yes. But I don’t see how that’s relevant when your very tall, powerful, faerie boyfriend is standing right behind you, staring at me.”

Renjun tips back to look at Jaemin. “Your turn.”

“Great.” Jaemin nudges Renjun off Donghyuck’s lap to the side and sits down across both their laps. Or, he sits next to Donghyuck but so close Donghyuck can actively feel his temperature rising where Jaemin’s torso presses against his and he throws his legs over both of their laps.

“Donghyuck.” Jaemin rests his chin on Donghyuck’s shoulder. “I told you earlier that I would have spent more time with you if you wanted. That’s still true—to be even clearer,” he exchanges a look with Renjun, “I believe the only reason I never got the chance to fall in love with you is that we never got the chance to try. We want to try with you, if you want that, too.” He tips his head almost too far to keep his chin touching Donghyuck. “Though if you only wanted to see Renjun, that would be acceptable.”

“You—” Donghyuck’s dead heart is going to beat right out of his chest if he lets it. As it is, he has to hold back the blood that passes for tears. “Why are you so calm about this? Shouldn’t you be upset about your boyfriend being in love with someone else?” his voice cracks on ‘love,’ but otherwise he manages to sound relatively calm.

Jaemin straightens and shrugs. “Polyamory is normal for faeries. Of course not everyone does it, but it’s in no way considered unusual.”

“And I don’t care,” Renjun adds from the other side. “I just want us all to be happy if we can.” He pokes Donghyuck until Donghyuck turns to look at him, head resting against the back of the couch. “Do you need time to think about it?”

Donghyuck blinks slowly a few times to buy time. He doesn’t need to think. He needs to let the shock work its way out of his body so he can actually respond. A life with Jaemin and Renjun, handed to him on a silver platter?

He ducks over to kiss Renjun before he can overthink it. Renjun makes a happy little noise and slides a hand into his hair. Donghyuck sinks into it like he hasn’t been kissed in ages—which he hasn’t, by Renjun. It’s as sweet as he remembers, only better because he doesn’t have to remember.

Jaemin runs a hand up and down Donghyuck’s back until they separate so Renjun can breathe. Then he tugs Donghyuck backwards, gently, until Jaemin can get a kiss in over Donghyuck’s shoulder. Then another, and another. Donghyuck spots Renjun watching with a lovely smile out of the corner of his eye. He tugs Renjun until they fall, entangled, to the carpet.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, I know the faeries in the books don't like modern technology, but I didn't really see this working without giving Jaemin a phone, so he's just a weirdo~ Also I think I forgot to mention it in the actual fic, but Renjun as warlock is patterned off something the author said about Magnus Bane theoretically having half-siblings because I thought it would be an interesting dynamic ... might go back and write that out someday.


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